She was young…

Joan of Arc “experienced her first vision around 1424 at the age of 12, in her ‘father’s garden.’ (She) saw visions of figures she identified as Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, who told her to drive out the English and bring the Dauphin (the rightful king) to Reims for his coronation. She cried when they left, as they were so beautiful.”[i]

He was old…

Brother Lawrence, a Carmelite monk in the 1600s, enjoyed the presence of God while doing ordinary tasks in the monastery kitchen. He said, “I have abandoned all particular forms of devotion, all prayer techniques. My only prayer practice is attention. I carry on a habitual, secret, silent conversation with God that fills me with joy overwhelming.”[ii]

Christian author John Piper tells about a certain morning—March 19, 2007—in a remote area of Northern Minnesota, when God spoke to him in phrases that entered his mind one at a time. He noted: “There is no doubt that it was God. I heard the words in my head just as clearly as when a memory of a conversation passes across your consciousness. The words wereContinue reading